by Jen Eastwood
“I remember the name from the guidebook.”
He got behind his desk and leaned back in his chair. “I know you read it, because you haven't missed the mark yet.”
“Then what's this all about?” I watched Dr. Clare sit in the chair next to mine, her legs crossed and hands covering the folder in her lap.
Janus put a foot on the edge of his desk and started twirling a pen. “Word is someone's gotten wise as to what we're doing. It's being chalked up a conspiracy nutter right now, but we can't let anymore leak out.”
“In other words,” Dr. Clare interjected, “keep your mouth shut.”
The head honcho grinned at me and said, “Unlike Cynthia's legs there, right mate?”
He's alright. “Anything else I should know?”
Dr. Clare's irritation didn't hide itself. “There's a matter Dr. Rickard wants to discuss, but he won't let me know what it is.” She got up and handed me the folder. “Your eyes and ears only.”
It didn't have much weight to it, but seeing Elena Roberts on the tab jump-started my pulse. Dr. Clare left with a slam of the door.
“Moody little bitch, isn't she?” Janus relaxed even more. “I should'a figured our first Donor would nail her.”
“She did tell me to experiment.” I tried to keep from staring at Elena's file, giving in and just asking. “What's this file on Elena?” I opened it. What looked like a few surveillance photos sat on top.
Janus nodded toward me. “She's stuck around your place a bit. Care to tell me why?”
“There's nowhere else she can go.”
“After that preacherman saw you shagging his woman, it's no wonder.” He paused to smile, “Good catch, though.”
“So what about her?”
He pulled his foot off the desk and leaned forward. “Be careful around these people. Travis Boyce isn't one to go about fucking with.”
“You know him?”
Janus got serious. “I know enough. Just because he's a man of God doesn't mean he'll turn the other cheek. He'll be out for blood, whether it's from you or her.”
I believed it. The way he screamed at Elena over the phone, plus all those blind ass-kissers ready to serve him hand and foot was all I needed to know. “What do you suggest?”
“Do you love this girl? You haven't turned in a report on her yet.”
“I just met her last week. Of course not.”
“You put her in this mess, so you may as well act like it, for her sake.” Janus narrowed his eyes at me. “It'd be shitty of you to dump all the consequences on the girl.”
“We'll lay low, then.”
“Good answer. Doing the right thing won't hurt you around here.” He reached down to pull his phone out of a cargo pocket. “Take an advance on ten grand, travel for a bit, then come back when the heat's down. You can still do your job, no matter where you end up.” Janus tapped the screen a few times with his thumb. “There, it'll be in your account by the time you leave here, but you've got to work it off.”
“Thanks,” I didn't know what to make of it, “I guess.”
“Besides, if you've got hundreds of kids with the same father running around the place, in twenty years they'll start inbreeding each other.”
“I signed a lease on my apartment less than a month ago.” I ran the numbers I remembered from the contract through my head. “It'll fuck me hard.”
Janus laughed at me for a moment. “You can claim it as an office and write it off as a business expense, you know?” He looked at me like I should have already known this. “When the revenuers come knocking, I get someone to replace the bed in my condo with a desk, and I'm peachy keen.”
I really wanted to quiz the guy about the tax cheats of the rich and famous after that. “Give me a few days, and we'll be gone until everything dies down.”
“Just in case that reporter's connected to Reverend Boyce somehow, I'd be scooting tonight.” Janus bent over and opened a drawer. “You pull one thread, it's fine. But if it's connected to another, the whole damn thing unravels.”
“I gotcha.”
“And here,” he chucked a massive pill bottle at me, landing right in my hands. “Three months of Patrem Delta. We'll overnight more to wherever you are when these run out.”
I got up, ready to figure out exactly where the hell I'd run with Elena. “By the way, Mr. Rickard, this is the best damn job I've ever had. Thanks.”
“I put something I've been researching myself in that folder as well. It might come in handy later.” Just as I was leaving, he shouted, “And you're a lucky bastard, that's for sure.”
I stopped before entering the apartment. She might still be here, she might not. Janus's warning had me urging my driver to hurry up. The news van was gone when I left, but I had kept looking behind me, suspecting any car that stuck around for more than a few traffic lights or stop signs. It had proven more than I rationally needed to do, but I took Rickard's warning at face value.
My keys jangled as I looked back toward the elevator one last time. Nothing. I gathered myself and turned the lock, not knowing how Elena would have taken the news.
I walked in and realized I still had her file in my hand. She wasn't around, the whole place still and silent as a crypt. Shit.
“Elena?” The binder was still on the counter top, flipped to about halfway through. I tossed her folder and the cache of Patrem Delta on top of it, just another log on the fire. “Hey, you here?” She hadn't left a note anywhere obvious.
My pace quickened toward the bedroom. Fuck, fuck, fuck! The door was wide open, the bed a mess from the fun we'd had earlier. I almost prayed that it wasn't our last time.
Only one room left, but now she didn't mind at all when I walked in on her. I put my ear against the door and heard water running. Damn, she scared the shit out of me.
I reached my hand out to go in, then I heard a knock to my left that made me jump. “Who the fuck is this?” I got back to the front door and looked through the peep hole. This bitch again?
The same reporter from out in front of GeneFactor stood there, a moleskin notebook clutched in her hands. If she weren't so irritating and dangerous to me, I'd have already had that navy blue pencil skirt and blazer on my floor. She let loose with more knocking. “Mr. Jensen, Brooke Harwel, WKNF.” She gave it a second. “I'd like to speak with you.”
“Go away, it's none of your business.”
An eye stared back through the hole, blue as the clear sky. “What is the connection between GeneFactor, yourself, and Elena Roberts?”
I waited and made sure nobody else was around her when she backed off. Coast is clear, other than her. I unlocked the door and slowly opened it.
“Thank you.” Brooke straightened up and pulled a tape recorder out. I grabbed her wrist and yanked her inside.
She tried to speak, but her back was against the door, shoulders pinned back with both my hands. “Who sent you?”
“Sir, I just want to know the connection.”
I reached down and snatched the recorder from her hand. Easing off, I said, “Come, sit down.” I pulled the battery cover off, letting the double-A's fall and then roll across the floor. “I'm holding onto this until you leave, and you'd better think fast.” I felt Brooke squirm against my grip. “Tell me what you know.”
She blinked too fast for my liking. “Nothing more than what you'll tell me.”
A ball of fire lit behind my forehead. Do what I say and tell me.
Brooke tried looking away, giving in and putting her eyes on mine. “Reverend Boyce has contacts everywhere in this town. He knows your address, and he can see your bank account.”
Fuck. “So what doesn't he know?”
She tried to drop down, the only way out of the hold. “Who pulls the strings at GeneFactor, and what you do for them.”
That crazy Aussie bastard knew more than he let on. I lowered myself and put my eyes within inches of her own. “What's his next move?”
“Local police, welfare check.” Brooke g
ulped a bucket of frogs down her throat. “They're taking her away, claiming you held Elena against her will.”
That son of a bitch. “What time?”
“Midnight.”
I looked back at the wall clock. Hours from now. So much for bothering with getting Elena a passport or any other kind of document Boyce didn't control. Her not having an ID meant we couldn't even board a flight.
I pressed harder against Brooke until she begged, “Just let me go, please.”
“Not yet.” The way her strength gave in told me she was about to break. “You've got dirt on everyone big in this town. How do I get Boyce to back off?”
“I don't know.” Brooke tried fidgeting out of my hands. Her legs dragged as I forced her over to the couch.
“Sit down and don't move.” My head started to hurt from all the orders.
Brooke crossed her arms and legs, slouching in her seat. “He'll get his way, you know.”
“Yeah? He can go fuck himself.” I started toward the folder. “What's your ball in his court?”
“I've been a member of the church since college, not that its any of your business.”
“That's rich, coming from someone who's nosy for a living.” I grabbed the file and started rifling through the pages. Behind the surveillance photos of Elena, I found a three page bio on her that GeneFactor had compiled. I looked past it and found what Janus had been talking about.
'Comparative Analysis of Thought Induction Techniques' It had Janus A. Rickard, PhD as the author, dated about five years ago. I read through the synopsis quickly, glancing up constantly to make sure Brooke stayed put. Apparently, Janus had been experimenting on his own with Patrem Delta's side effects.
I flipped through, scanning for the meat of what he hinted at being a help to me. '… the author notes that forced induction is best achieved while the subject(s) are distracted by physical stimuli. Traits subject to change can range from mood, up to personal beliefs.'
Motherfucker. He knew exactly what would happen. The file dropped back on the counter. I got back to Brooke, standing directly behind her and putting my hands on her shoulders.
She flinched and tensed up. “What's your plan with me?”
That's when Elena opened the door, not a scrap of clothing or any other cover on her. “Brookie?” Her eyes were wide, like she had just realized a speeding truck was heading right for her.
“So that's the kind of thing you're doing now. Travis was right about you, whoring around like this.”
I squeezed Brooke's shoulders harder and leaned down. “That was a mistake.”
“You'll both end up burning in Hell. It's never wrong to tell a sinner that they're on a path of destruction.” She still wasn't trying to get away, but the tone of her voice felt like acid. “You should feel ashamed of yourself, turning my friend from from the light.”
“Elena, come over here.” I watched her trot over without an ounce of embarrassment. That bug in her personality had been ripped out like a garden weed by this point. “Explain to your friend here why you're happier now.”
Leaving both of them to their own devices, I heard some heated chatter as I slipped into the bedroom. Physical stimuli, huh? I had just the thing for it in my nightstand.
I slid the drawer open and got it out. Long, white, and with a motor that'll make your hands numb just from holding it, I'd put the wand to good use on Prime Recipients and Elena. More for my entertainment than anything else, but none of them complained. Hell, Elena even gave it a name.
Putting it behind my back, I strolled back into the living room. The smirk on my face got their attention. “Elena, it's time out.”
“What did I do wrong?” It was our term for her 'punishment' when she let shame come back.
“It's for her. You know what to get.”
She looked at me, her forehead wrinkling as she got up. “Why does she get it?”
“We'll set her free, just like you.” I leaned in as she passed by, “But she won't stay with us, I promise.”
It brought a smile to Elena's face. “Good.”
I gave her pert ass a tap for good measure. “Hurry up, I'll need your help.”
Brooke had put her hands on a knee. “So, Grant, do you just order her around like that all the time?”
“Is it any different from what Boyce did to her?” I half-winked my right eye at her, thinking about how I should break the news. Pulling the wand from behind my back, I placed it on the end table next to Brooke.
Her nose curled as she stared at it. “At least with him, she had self-respect.”
“What you call self-respect, I call shame.” I bent down to eye level, staring Brooke right in the face. “You'll be the same way,” I raised the corners of my mouth, “and I'll make you know what's going on.”
Brooke tossed her hair to the side with a wave of her head. “And how's that? You can't make me do anything to stray from God.”
“Keep thinking that.”
Elena had just returned. She handed me the four wide velcro straps. Her hands lingered near mine.
I looked directly at Brooke. “Now, stand up.”
“You can't order me around like her.” Her face contorted into a smug bitch face.
I pointed at the floor between the ottoman and her. Ego sum alpha. Et genua parere. “I said now.”
Brooke rose, her eyes darting between myself and Elena. “What kind of trick is this?” She was upright and hadn't figured the game out yet. “I'm leaving.”
“Sit on the ottoman and do what either of us tell you.” I guided her down by the shoulders, just a couple of feet from where she sat before. I got in her face and had emphasis on every syllable, “Do you understand?”
“No.”
“You will. Hell, I'll tell you everything.” I motioned for Elena to grab the wand from the end table. “Take your blazer and your shirt off.”
Brooke slid her arms out of the jacket, her eyes widening more as she started on the buttons of her shirt. She looked up at me as she worked halfway down. “What have you done to her?”
“What I'm doing to you,” I slid the white cotton off her shoulders, “but I was a lot nicer with Elena.”
“I'd never be your whore.” The pale green and black lace of her bra complimented her well as Brooke pulled her arms out of the sleeves.
I placed both hands under her breasts, judging the heft. Nice. We locked eyes as I said, “You won't be my whore, but you will be one. If that's the one kind of woman you hate more than any other, I can't think of a better favor I could do for you.”
She spit a wet streak across my face. “You're a lunatic.”
“Kettle, meet pot.” I put a finger on her waist. “Now take off everything beneath this point.”
Brooke's glare could have killed a man as her hands went under the waistband of her skirt. “Why can't I stop?”
I watched it slide past her knees. “You should worry more about how far I'll go, and how much you'll like it.”
Her heels came off with the skirt. Sitting pretty in bra and panties, Brooke stared back up at me. “Boyce will ruin you for this.”
A dull pain spread across my forehead. “Shut up.” I smiled as all the emotion left her mouth, diverting to make her eyes even more expressive. I looked over at Elena, “You get to use Mr. Shaky this time.” You know, named for how it always left her. She was adorable like that sometimes.
Elena's eyes lit up like fireworks, her face beaming. “But on her?”
Brooke couldn't have opened her eyes wider or put her brows further up her face. Her body had stopped all resistance by the time I guided her onto her back. I strapped her wrists to the legs of the ottoman and told Elena, “Go ahead.”
My favorite had leaned close to her friend, thinking she whispered where I couldn't hear. “I won't tell him, but time out is my favorite.”
I already knew it. As I moved around and had a strap around the first ankle, the wand buzzed to life. Elena scooted in beside me as I got the last strap
locked in.
Brooke let out a nervous whimper. Her body had one last gasp of resistance as she squirmed, pinned down like she was on a specimen board. I stood and watched the tip brush against the front of her panties, her voice cracking out a desperate groan.
Elena looked up at me in her nude glory, on her knees and leaning over the nutjob reporter. “Am I doing it right?”
I met stares with Brooke, but kept my words toward Elena. “That's the lowest setting. Move it up a notch every once in a while and push it harder against her every time.” I crouched down next to our new toy. “And don't stop until I tell you.”
She did as told, getting up to setting two of ten. “And Grant, I read about what you do.”
“Explain to Brooke what that is.”
Her head bent sideways until I nodded her on. Elena looked at Brooke. “He makes a living by putting babies in women.” She gave me a concerned look, “I think in the bad way.”
“You know we don't judge in this house, Elena.” I sat on my rear behind Brooke's head and reached over to rub my hand on Elena's cheek. “Time out.”
“But she's already in it.”
I had always had a mean streak a yard wide, and a sexually twisted one that stretched a football field. “She can take care of you.”
“You mean...” That innocent look made me want to facefuck her right then and there, like, brutally. “That's what those evil women who hate men do to each other.” Maybe later on that facefucking.
“They're not evil, and I do that to you sometimes.” I looked down at Brooke and grinned like a Cheshire Cat during a bad acid trip. “Don't you agree?”
“If you say it's not bad, I can try it.” She hesitated before standing up, her perfect body and that oversized vibrator in her hand looking like a shot out of a porno I'd have blown it to. “Does Brooke want to?”
I stared back down. Say, 'please.' “Why don't you ask her.” Our stare at each other never broke, my smile getting even wider. I finally stopped and got out of Elena's way as she stood in my spot.
She looked down. “Is it okay? Do you want to?”
Brooke's eyes said the exact opposite, but her lips parted with a perfectly nice, “Please.”